Aria of the Forgotten Cards
by Burst-in-Flames Tiger
Summary: Card Games have disappeared entirely, but only in our world. In Gensokyo, pieces of their history rained down as fallen stardust. Their presence were then integrated into a single chronicle: The Spellcard Rules. From then on, every duel were decided by Card Games. Contains no original archetypes/cards. All cards' effect are taken straight from their OCG/TCG counterparts.


Card Games, they have become fictional.

In a future where children never "smiled", those concept of passing the time has become bizarre. In the rift of time, it swiveled and distorted into legends. Thousands of light suddenly appeared from the sky and rained down upon Gensokyo, each star shards turning into cards, searching for its destined users.

The Humans gathered and played, and the Youkai pillaged. In turn, the human prayed to the Gods who empower them. Those three formed a cycle of power that repeats. At the center of them all, there are cards. Those cards are chronicled onto a single form: The Spellcard Rules.

Whether they're Humans, Youkais, or Gods, all of them revolved around the Spellcard Rules. To use those shards of cards to battle and its outcome determine what will happen next. This rule is absolute, those who does not obeyed are to be punished severely. That system is needed to help any member of Gensokyo to derail, or resolve an incident: In which a world-threatening event may cause a permanent damage to Gensokyo's environment.

The date was the eight cycle of the moon, the light gently shone upon the lake. The hazy reflection of the moon soon fades with the creeping reach of the red fog. In a misty lake filled with freezing fog, wine-colored smog was a rare occurance. Across the forest and into the mountains it spread. Without hesitation they enveloped the lower grounds successfully.

The next day, it reached the human village, and the humans were restless. There was supposed to be an event today, yet with the situation right now, it was not possible to be held. Suddenly and without any provocations, there was an attack by a group of fairies. Without fail, they defeated one human after another, but a figure stopped them on their tracks.

Three against one, doesn't seem so fair, but the attacked held on.

Three fairies, one red-haired, one black-haired, and one cyan-haired. The red one has 3500 life points with Beast King Barbaros at 3000 attack points in attack mode on her side of the field, the black-haired has 5000 life points and two set cards and an empty front row, and the cyan-haired has 3300 life points a Tyrant Dragon in attack mode. Before them is a human with a life point of 700, three set cards, and four cards in her hand.

"Draw." Keine Kamishirasawa said as she dodged a barrage of red, black, and cyan danmaku. She pivoted mid-air and went behind one of the fairies. "I activate Hecatrice from my hand. After discarding it from my hand, I can place one Valhalla, Hall of The Fallen from my deck into my hand. Activate!" A ray of light shone and descending from above is a lady of war in platinum garment. A spear on one hand, she sends shockwaves that stunned the fairies. "I special summon Athena in attack mode with the effect of Valhalla."

"Crap! I activate my Trap Card! Black Horn of the Heaven!" From below the black-haired fairy, a dark horn appeared and it wailed a ringing shockwave, but soon it was sucked into a revealed card behind Keine. "I activate a trap card: Counter Counter, then I chain it with Synthetic Seraphim."

"What does it do!?" Asked the blue fairy

"Whenever a counter trap is activated, a Seraphic Token can be summoned on my side of the field. Since there are two that have been activated, two Seraphic Token are summoned on my field." Two ball of light spontaneously combust, and from their remains are two machineries in white. Its body is lined with green lines that shines brightly. "Athena's effect activates. For every fairy that was summoned after her, my opponent takes 600 point of damage each."

 _600 x 2 = 1200._

Athena raised her spear. A large orb of light formed above her before it exploded into six orbs. Two of them were sent to each fairies, and it was unavoidable as it hit them square on their chest. The red-haired fairy held her ground, and so did her comrade. The black-haired fairy eyed her set card, but she perished the thought as Keine continued.

"Next, I tribute sumon Airknight Parshath using one of my Seraphim Token. Come forth Radiance of Light!" Descending from above was a centaur empowered with golden armor. White wings of an angel sprouted from his back, and a sword and shield as its arsenal. The light warrior spread its wings and stared down upon the fairies. "Athena's effect! With the summoning of another fairy, 600 points of damage for all of you."

 _600 x 2 + 600 = 1800._

From their chest, a spark of light exploded and startled them. Another 600 points deducted from their life points.

"I am not done. From my hand, I activate the effect of Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin. By tributing an Airknight Parshath I control, I can special summon him from my hand! Evolve, Holy Parshath of light!" Keine removed Airknight Parsath from the duel disk to the graveyard and replaced it with the card she had declared. The light parshath shone brightly as it morphed into a grander, golden version that regally clopped beside Athena. "Now, Athena's effect activates once again!"

 _600 x 2 + 600 + 600 = 2400._

A spark of damage crackled like a small firework around the fairies as they took another effect damage.

"Is that all you got, lady!?" The cyan-colored fairy clutched her chest as she taunted.

"I activate Athena's effect."

"You just had to open your mouth, hadn't you Midori!?" The red-haired fairy protested.

"By tributing one fairy from my field to the graveyard, I can special summon a fairy-type monster from my graveyard onto my field. Tributing my second Seraphim Token, I can special summon a fairy-type monster from my graveyard. Come forth! Darklord Superbia!" Without warning, a burst of darkness exploded in-front of Keine and from there a sphere-like entity appeared. Its vermillion pair of wing sprouted behind it and its mouth crackled a hellish tune. "I activate its effect. When this card is special summoned from the graveyard, I can special summon another Fairy-type from my graveyard. Appear, Honest!"

Gallantly, a ray of light accompanied the angel's descent. A bright light of hope shone inside his hand. The angel positioned himself beside Superbia and Athena's spear was raised once again. Above them, a ray of light appeared to pierce the clouds that resulted in a bright flash of light. It paused for a while, before a legion of meteor shower fell onto the fairies.

 _600 x 2 + 600 + 600 + 600 + 600 = 3600._

"Athena's effect activates!"

The cyan and red-haired fairy's eyes went wide. Their life points of 3300 and 3500 respectively weren't enough to survive the effect damage onslaught. In one combo, two out of three fairies were knocked out instantly as their body were sent onto the grounds below. They screamed as their body made contact with tree branches. Swiftly, Keine glared at the last fairy and she whimpered.

"Battle Phase."

The black-haired one shrieked as she began to flee.

From the center of the village, a loud earth-shattering explosion could be heard. Another one bites the dust thought the villagers. Their vanguards beaten, the army of fairies retreated back into the woods, dragging their fallen comrades. Keine deactivated her Duel Disk before sighing a big one. "Thank goodness, but a this rate I'll be exhausted. I need to get some help from someone."

"Miss Keine, good job."

The sudden voice of a girl startled her. She turned around and found a Tengu with a notebook opened in her hand, and a pen in the other. The cheerful Tengu grinned as she circled Keine and Keine is having none of that. "What are you doing here, papparazi?"

"News Reporter!" The tengu screamed. "I insist of you Miss Keine, that I am not a papparazi."

"I have class in the morning, Tengu. Don't make it difficult." She placed her hand onto her forehead. "What is a Tengu doing out in the open at this hour? Don't you have a strict regulation and rules where you came from?"

"Yes, but I'm so fast nobody would even notice that I'm gone." She hummed a tune as she placed both her arms behind her and stretched. A feminine groaning slipped out of her mouth along with a few bone cracking from exhaustion. "Still, I shouldn't be here at night. It's really dangerous."

"It is. Want me to escourt you back? I can't leave a lady alone even if she is capable."

"No thanks. I'd like to stay for a while in the Human Village. I'm running away from home for now."

Keine wasn't really expecting a certain tip-off. The mere concept of a Tengu running away from home had never crossed her mind before. "Would you like to stay at my place? I have extra rooms."

"Are you inviting me for a night at your place? Scandalous."

Keine blushed. "It's not like that." She glared at the Tengu. "Miss Shameimaru, the thought of you running around unnatended doesn't sit well with me. It's better to watch your friends close."

"Oh?"

"Of course, you need to watch your enemies closer." Keine smirked. "But this conversation has gone long enough. How about it, would you take my offer?"

"And you'd expect a reward from this, wouldn't you?"

"But of course." Keine simply smiled. "Those who control information controls the situation, am I wrong?" The tengu replied with a pleased gesture. The night was still young, but Keine knew that there will not be anymore nightly ambush. For now, they both retreated into Keine's abode to rest for tomorrow.

* * *

Keine treked the stairs leading somewhere uphill. As she climbed upwards, the sound of soft scratches could be heard. Penetrating the mist, she continued forward believing the Tengu's words. She is the best informant she could hope to have, and since it's in the morning, she was not worried if the village is being assaulted again.

She would rather fly, but at this condition, she'd rather try not to attract any attention. As much as she would believe that Fairies aren't the brightest of the bunch, they're a veteran on ambushing people. They would usually only play pranks on strangers, but due to the mist, they had been a little more violent than before.

"Really now, how far are these stairs stretched? I haven't walked this much of a distance since that one time I got lost in the bamboo forest." Mumbling to herself, Keine pushed on.

Finally reaching the end, the soft scratches were explained. A shrine maiden elegantly swept the foliage with a pleased smile on her face. She started to tune a hymn and mystified Keine. Her beautiful and young face spoke wonders about the shrine maiden's identity. Keine couldn't help but to approach the girl silently.

Noticing, the girl turned to her.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was I intterupting something?" Keine swiftly replied.

"No, not at all. Are you visiting the shrine?"

"Far from it, dear." The expression on the shrine maiden turned slightly sour. "Would you happen to know about a woman named Reimu Hakurei?" Her eyes were locked to the shrine maiden's. "I have a favor to ask of her."

"That would be me. How can I help you?"

"My, so young! A young girl like you are the renowned Shrine Maiden of Paradise? That sure did surprise me. Anyway, I would like to talk to you about this incident." Keine started. "Have you noticed the red mist? It has been bothering the villagers and they want it to be stopped."

"Why?"

"One. It obstructed the view. It made them fear going outside even in the day, and it becomes much, much worse at night. Two. It made the fairies more aggressive and violent than usual. We have been having night assault everyday for the past five days. If this mist is not stopped, the lives of the villagers will be in constant danger!"

"I understand, but I don't want to help."

"Excuse me?"

"I don't want to help you. This incident has not affected me personally, so I wouldn't want to do anything about it. Usually it would just be resolved by itself, so I wouldn't even bother trying to resolve it."

"Are you serious?" Keine was disgusted. "You're the Shrine Maiden of Paradise. Your duty is to help resolve the incident. Is it not!?"

"No. My duty is to live my life however I see fit. Still, if you insist I expect some compensation." She held up her open palm before Keine. Her face stern and determined.

"Are you extorting me!?"

"Extortion is such a harsh word. I prefer the term of bounty."

"You're the Bounty Hunter of Paradise now? You're one selfish shrine maiden. You know that?"

"What's wrong with being selfish you hypocrite. Don't preach those do it for the good of people nonsense. I am supposed to be neutral to you and this world, so if you want my help now, the simplest answer is to _pay me_. Or, you could wait until the mist affected me in some way, but I still won't care either way. Your choice, lady."

Never before has Keine seen someone so repulsive in manner of conduct. Even if she had a point, it was still hard for Keine to accept it.

Still, if she was as good as that Tengu said, she should have her use. She brought her wallet with her, and if she offered an unreasonable price, she could always haggle or settle for credit. The decision is clear for her.

"How much?"

"Treat me to a three-course meal for the next three weeks."

There was a brief pause.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I don't need any money, but I want something else and that's food. Can you cook?"

"Yes."

"Can you cook udon?"

"I haven't tried myself, but I know a good restaurant back at the village."

"Good." The shrine maiden nodded. "Let's go now. It should be open, right?"

"It should be."

"Great. I'm starving, now let's go." Reimu walked passed Keine before she stopped and turned. "Uh... who are you?"

Keine realized that she had forgotten to introduce herself.

"Keine." She replied. "Keine Kamishirasawa."

Reimu nodded with a stern frown. She proceed to place her broom onto the side of the shrine gate and walked down the stairs. Soon after, Keine paced her walk behind her and they went down into the sea of red mist below.

* * *

"This is so good."

"You could have more if you wanted."

"Don't mind if I do."

Keine sighed. All this time she only wanted food. She could have worded it better, but then again, Keine always judged a person from how they dress and appear. She really need to stop her bad habit, or else one of her close friend would scold her. She's a teacher, being scolded is the biggest of her worries right now.

"Okay, I'm finished." Reimu rubbed her lips with a clean napkin. "Now let's talk business."

"Alright." Keine began. "I want you to stop the mists from spreading."

"That's it?"

Keine nodded. "Honestly, it's becoming a bother for everyone involved but the perpetrator. I'll say it again; I want you to solve this incident and bring justice to whoever is causing this."

"Understood." Reimu stood up, her hand on the table. "Give me a day or two."

"I would've given you a week, but alright."

"Scratch that, give me a week and a half."

"Hey, hey." Keine gestured her arm, clearly annoyed. "Don't be lazy and get out there."

"Fine." Reimu strut along the restaurant and went outside. She was two steps outside before bumping on someone. A magician with the color scheme of black and white. The impact was hard enough to send both of them to the ground. Reimu clutched her chin while the magician rubbed her forehead. Both of them locked eyes onto each other before screaming at each other.

"Walk with your eyes open, sister!"

"Oh I can open your eyes alright." Reimu replied, raising her fist. "I'll open those eyes of yours with my fist, shortie!"

"Shortie!?" Marisa stood up. "Nobody calls me shortie you dumb broad!"

"What was that, shrimp!?"

"I said, you're a dumb broad!"

Both of them stared at each other with sparks of lightning flying everywhere between them. Their interlocking eyesight clashed before the two and ignited something inside of them both. It was a fiery and passionate urge to steamroll whoever is infront of them. Hurriedly, Keine dragged Reimu away from trouble while the magician was being held by a group of puppets and another blonde girl sporting a red ribbon with frills.

"I apologize for causing you trouble." Keine apologized. "I am really, really sorry."

"No, my friend started it first. I am the one who's really sorry." The ribbon girl hastily replied. "Come on, Marisa. Apologize! You _are_ the one who started it."

"Only after the broad apologize first."

"Oh that's it. Nobody calls me a broad and gets away with it!" Reimu answered with materializing a duel disk from a spellcard. She dons it on her left arm and struggled to get away from Keine's hold. The other girl—Marisa—complied to her request by materializing her own duel disk in the same fashion as Reimu did, but the ribbon girl prevented her from dueling with Reimu. "Marisa stop it, what the hell is wrong with you!"

"Alice don't get in my way!" Marisa struggled.

"Keine, let go of me!" Reimu insisted.

Keine mustered her power and dragged her away as far as possible from Marisa. "It's not worth it Reimu, let's go!"

"What she said Marisa. Come on, you're embarrassing yourself!"

Both of the girls clicked their tongue before turning away from each other. Reimu flew away with Keine behind her and Marisa went inside the restaurant with Alice behind her. The last moment of their feud was signaled by the hard slamming of a wooden door.

"...You're really mature out there." Alice sipped on her tea.

"Sorry." Marisa looked down. "I can't help it. I am not myself today. Something is going on here and it's weird. I swear I'm telling the truth."

"I believe you."

"I said I'm not- wait, you do?" Marisa looked at Alice. "You actually believed me?"

"Yeah, this mist must be at fault. It must be affecting everyone who inhaled it to be more aggressive than usual." She pondered while eyeing Marisa. She could sense something inside Marisa that is similar to what is happening inside her own body. Alice sensed something, it was of a magical property, a magician's work. "A witch is behind this."

"Huh? I thought you're the only witch in Gensokyo." Marisa realized something as she leaned closer, both her palms against the table. "Are you saying that someone has infiltrated Gensokyo? Like, from the outside!? That's crazy ze."

"I figured as much. Though, I wonder. What kind of a witch is able to pull off something this grand. Even I couldn't do something of this scale with my full power."

"Then, is she ultra powerful or something?"

"Knowledgeable more like it. To manipulate something of this caliber. You need to have the proper mind and technique. You can't just cast a mist summoning spell and be done with it. You need to have a sufficiently large magical energy or a powerful enough magical catalyst. Unless..."

"Unless...?"

"No, nevermind." Alice shrugged off the thoughts with a shook of a head. "Perish the thought. It's just some stupid myth I dug up years ago."

"If you say so."

"So, what's the plan today?" Alice stared. "Do you have some kind of plan today, or are we just going to go to the bookstore again?"

"Hm... I think I'd like to meet the powerful mist witch."

"Would you mind if I accompany you? I am rather curious myself."

"Not at all." Marisa smiled. "The more, the merrier right? I'm glad that we're friends. I have never been bored when I'm hanging out with you, Alice."

"Hmm... so I see." Alice looked to the side and smiled. Taking another sip of her tea, her face slowly turned a tint of red hue. Her heartbeat became increasingly eratic as she found it hard to look at Marisa. "I'm also glad."

"What was that ze?"

"Oh, nothing." Alice hurriedly chugged her tea.

"Slow down, you'll choke." A sweat trailed down Marisa's cheek.

* * *

Reimu couldn't help but felt bad afterwards. As much as she tried being neutral to everyone, she had never been that angry before in her life. She hurriedly distanced herself from Keine, but Keine insisted on trailing behind her.

"Go away, Keine. I can do this myself."

"Do you even know where it is?"

"What is where?"

"The source of this incident." She said before activating her duel disk. "Watch out, there are fairies ahead."

"I appreciate your help." Reimu activated hers. She drew five cards from the deck and summoned a monster. A purple-colored shark humanoid with a spear for his weapon. He wore a garment that resembled a diviner and he ran to one of the fairies. Reimu noticed that she had gone first after summoning Beelze of Diabolic Dragons, and with the summoning of Gishki Abyss, its effect activated. "When Gishki Abyss is summoned, I can add one Gishki monster with a defense equal or less than 1000. I add Gishki Vision to my hand and activate Gishki Aquamirror. From my hand, I discard Gishki Vision and due its effect, the condition to summon this card is met."

Reimu went past the fairy, and in a sweet movement, the fairy was struck down. Her full life points of 4000 were depleted to zero. Keine was dumbfounded as Reimu surprised her yet again. She went to another fairy and in a split second the fairy as struck down. It continued until they went into the end of the forest, where a dark sphere awaited.

"A ball of darkness?" Reimu started.

"Yes. I am The Wicked Avatar." The ball of darkness replied. "How do you like it?"

"The card have better illustration."

The ball of darkness dissipated and from there appeared a blonde girl in a black and white dress. A red ribbon tied onto her hair and she floated as if in a state of crucifixion. She opened her eyes and her red schlera tipped Reimu off. "I agree. The cards always have the better illustration, but I'm not a painting, am I? My name is Rumia, by the way. A pleasure to meet you."

"No, you're definitely not." Reimu replied with a slight grin. "It's been a pleasure, but do you mind if you let me pass?"

"Yes." Rumia glided closer to Reimu. "Even if you probably tasted as bitter as the forest herb, I'm sure you'll fill up my belly."

"Don't you know that the bitter the medicine, the better it is for the body?"

Rumia readied her duel disk and Reimu was on stand by. Keine stayed behind Reimu and held off the fairies. "I got this. Just focus on the girl, Reimu!"

"Don't order me around." Reimu yelled. "But I appreciate the help."

Rumia drew five cards and so di Reimu. Their eyes locked onto each other before they declared their intentions. After the dueling condition are met, their voice echoed through the forest clearings.

"Duel!"

"I'll go first. Draw." Rumia grinned as she drew a card from her deck. "From my hand, I use Dark World Dealing. With this, both players draw one card from their deck and then discard one card from their hand." Rumia sent a monster card from her hand onto her graveyard, and drew two cards. "By Broww's effect, I can draw one more card. Next, I activate a field spell card. The Gates of Dark World."

From behind Rumia, a violent wind blew forward as she raised her hand as if she was crucifixed again. The wood's clearing slowly turned dark as a gate appeared to close the exit. A dim light shone through the crack of the door. "You have been cordially invited to my world, I am so glad that you can make it. Shrine Maiden! I activate its effect. By banishing one fiend-type from my graveyard, I can discard a fiend-type monster card from my hand and draw a card from my deck."

Rumia dashed to Reimu as she summoned a monster card. "I summon Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World in attack mode."

"A 1600 attack from the start!? You need to do better than that!" Reimu dashed away from the danmaku as Rumia continued by returning Beiige back to her hand. This landed a confused response from Reimu, and Rumia chuckled. "Oh no, you didn't just—"

"Oh but I did! I special summon Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World in attack mode." She placed two set cards from her hand. "I set two cards and end my turn. Your move."

The laser grazed Reimu's sleeve before she declared the start of her turn. She did an aileron roll as she drew. She looked at her hand and showed it to Rumia. "I summon Gishki Beast in attack mode. When it is summoned, its effect activates. I special summon one level 4 or lower Gishki monster from my graveyard and I special summon Gishki Vision."

Accompanying the sea beast is a sea-serpent. As the beast roared, the serpent inside the robe hissed as they shielded Reimu from the danmakus. Reimu dashed towards Rumia and the Gishkis followed. With a flash, Reimu went behind Rumia and activated a spell card from her hand. "This is it, Youkai. I activate Gishki Aquamirror. I use Vision's effect to have the condition met to summon Gishki—"

"Rejected."

"What?"

"I activate a trap card. Solemn Strike." Rumia smiled. "Now, send whatever it is you're trying to summon to the graveyard, and your little spell card too."

Reimu was silenced, but it was to be expected. The girl is not her usual fairy, she's a youkai. Some of them stronger than the other, and always stronger than fairies. She reluctantly sent those two cards into the grave before proceeding. Only Gishki beast remained on the field and before it is a dark dragon lording the dark world. Quickly, she stepped away from Rumia and stopped after "Hm... let's go with three set cards and end my turn."

Rumia side-hovered the piercing needles before she drew her card. "I activate the effect of my field spell card—"

"Rejected."

"...What!?"

"I activate a quick-spell card, Mystical Space Typhoon and destroy your field card."

The gate behind Rumia exploded and sent Rumia away from Reimu. The impact made her crash into a tree's branch and send her deep inside the forest. Reimu turned to where she landed, and found the girl already behind her. The slight jolt of shock made her back away a few distance as Rumia angrily declared. "I activate another Dark World Dealing from my hand. I draw a card, send Broww and then draw another card. Now Shrine Maiden, your turn!"

Reimu silently wondered as she draw a card and sent a monster card to the grave.

"Finished? From my hand, I activate once again. The Gate of Dark World." Once again, the forest's opening was closed with a dark gate. The blonde-haired Youkai placed another field card before activating its effect. "I banish Broww from the graveyard and I send Sillva, Warlord of Dark World into the grave. Its effect activates and it let me summon it into my field. Next, I summon Snoww, Unlight of Dark World in attack position."

Reimu silently gulped. Hoping that nothing else is coming her way.

"Battle! With Sillva, I attack Gishki Beast!"

Sillva closed in on the beast before slaying it in a single slash to its throat. Reimu gasped as her life point was reduced by 800 points. She locked her sight with Rumia that ordered Grapha to attack, and this is her chance.

"I activate a trap card!" A picture of a grave appeared and from it, hands appeared to grab something from Reimu's graveyard slot: Gishki Abyss. The moment it was summoned, Reimu smirked. "I activate this card's effect. When it is summoned, I can take one level 4 or lower Gishki monster that has 1000 or less defense point from my deck into my hand, and I choose Gishki Shadow."

"It doesn't matter! Grapha is still going to blast your monster into pieces!" As she said, the Dark Dragon continued its power charging to release a devastating wave of darkness. "Dark World Horror!"

"Another trap card." Reimu smirked. "Fish Depth Charge. Its effect allows me to destroy one card on the field by tributing one Fish-type monster, and then I can draw one card. The card I choose to be destroyed—" She pointed at the dark beast charging his attack. "—Is our Dark World Dragon over there."

From below it, Abyss charged straight at Grapha and went through its chest, leaving a hole before it exploded. Rumia guarded herself from the explosion by floating away from it with her arms guarding her head. She then returned her eyes to the shrine maiden, ordering Snoww to attack her directly. Reimu had just finished taking another card before a ball of shivering darkness hit her. She took the blow without flinching, but she still felt the bone-chilling aftermath crawling on her back. Rumia smirked as she entered main-phase two.

 _3200 – 2000 = 1200_

"Now, I activate Grapha's effect." She returned Snoww back to her hand and placed Grapha on her side of the field. With an ear-piercing roar, the Dragon stood tall with its 3000 attack points. Though the situation looked dire, it didn't bother Reimu by the slightest. Rumia scoffed without saying much else. "I end my turn."

Her hand was stuck at two and her life point is at 1200, but she didn't worry and proceed to draw her card as usual.

She eyed the card before sighing in relief. That fact alone sent the signal of danger throughout Rumia's body. "I have learned my lesson, Youkai. Now, let's see if you had learned yours. I activate from my hand, a field card." The sound of the field-slot opening caused great shockwave, and when a card was inserted there, it created a loud ringing. Clouds gathered atop Reimu as graves and memorials sprouted from the ground. Three distinctive building appeared in spread, and with a rattling thunder, a typhoon blew from behind Reimu."Mound of the Bound Creator."

Rumia gritted her teeth. She didn't know what the card does. It was the first time she had seen the card itself, and she did not want to find out what its effect is. As far as curiousity goes, this was the first time she didn't dare to ask a card's effect. A hard gulp of spit left the youkai of darkness speechless before Reimu.

"Now, with the effect of Gishki Aquamirror, I can shuffle it back into the deck by returning a Gishki ritual monster to my hand. Kind of like Grapha, don't you think?" Reimu's comment was unanswered as Rumia opted to remain silent. Reimu sighed with a tint of understanding before proceeding. "Now, from my hand. I activate Gishki Shadow's effect. By sending it to the graveyard, I can add one Gishki ritual spellcard from my deck into my hand."

Rumia's eyes went wide as she backed away from the fight, only to hit The Gate of Dark World she was proud of. Reimu shook her head as she activaated Gishki Aquamirror. "No, it can't be. You can't be summoning a level 10 without meeting its requirement!" Rumia struggled not to stutter , but she let her fear slipped past her mouth. "You can't possibly do that."

"But I can. Using Gishki Vision's effect from my hand, I can meet the requirement just fine. Now, come forth! Gishki Zielgigas!" With her command, a torrent of water launched itself into the sky, and from inside it, two shining eyes pierced through the thick water. Then, a pair of wing twice the size of Grapha's poked from the side and as the water dispersed, a four-armed black-skinned deity roared courageously. At this moment, Rumia activated a trap card. With an arm motion, she declared. "Trap card open!"

But the trap card didn't appear.

"W-Why!?"

"Simple. Mound of the Bound Creator makes any level 10 or higher monster unable to be targeted, or destroyed by card effects. If I have to guess, that spell card of yours must be another Solemn Strike, or Bottomless Trap Hole. Since it can't be targeted, your trap card doesn't resolve."

"No way."

"Oh, but that's not all. I activate Gishki Zielgigas' effect." Rumia bit her lip as she continued hard-pressing her back against the gate. Against the violent and roaring storm, who wouldn't want to be at the other side of the storm gate? "I pay 1000 life points, I draw one card and reveal it to the opponent." Reimu drew one card and show it to the opponent, smiling, she asked. "Now, what is the card?"

"A monster card." Rumia was frightened. "Gishki Abyss."

"If it is a Gishki monster card, I can shuffle back one card on the field into the deck, and I choose Grapha." Reimu send a diviner's seal onto the Dark World Dragon, and Zielgigas raised its arm, palm open facing the dragon. As the deity clutched his fingers into a fist, a wild torrent sprouted from the ground and sent the card back into Rumia's deck. "Now, I hope the dragon's gone for good."

With a useless set card and no way to guard her, Rumia panicked and began launching a desperate barrage of Danmaku at Reimu. The swift shrine maiden dodged them without breaking a sweat as Zielgigas closed in on the gate. Launching herself directly at Rumia, Zielgigas retracted his arm and so did Reimu.

"I summon Gishki Abyss!" Reimu called out. The humanoid shark appeared with his spear and charged along with Reimu. Zielgigas' fist meets Sillva and he was plummeted onto the gate. Reimu charged in with Gishki Abyss and aimed for a punching blow square on the face. In a single blow, the gate was destroyed into smithereens while Rumia was knocked out cold with a direct attack by Gishki Abyss. The youkai genuinely passed out from fear. As the duel ended, Reimu looked at the girl who has now laid lifeless on the ground.

"I didn't mean to punch you. It was never my intention." Reimu scratched the back of her head. "I thought Youkais are immune to fear, I guess not. Now I feel kind of bad."

"Reimu, that was a nice duel!" Keine paused, her hand resting on her chin. "Though that last one was kind of an overkill."

Reimu noticed the familiar voice, it was Keine. "Thanks."

"You had me worried there for a second. When Dark World swarm, they do not mess around."

"They do." Reimu pointed at the youkai. "Would you mind treating her? She may be a youkai, but she's still alive. It's not like she's a fairy who can respawn."

"That's a fair request. You don't need a bounty for this?"

"The duel was enough." Reimu stretched her arms and legs. "Things I enjoyed more than money and food, is a good duel. She gave me one, so it's only natural to give my appreciation."

"Hm..." Keine smiled like a cat. "Who would've thought."

"Anyway, what's at the end of this side of the forest?"

"A lake."

"Strange, I didn't remember a lake here."

"How out of touch are you?" Keine sighed as she raised Rumia onto her back. "That lake recently appeared out of thin air about a year ago. Are you sure you're good enough to resolve this incident?"

"The fairies did spoke about the lake, but I didn't think that was true."

"So this is where we split?"

"Yeah. Thanks for the help Keine." Reimu began to float away from Keine. "See you in about a day."

"I'll go looking for you if you didn't come back in two days."

Reimu raised a thumb before flying into the misty lake. The spring has just started, yet the cold hadn't let up. The lake exuded cold and every minute she was there, the Shrine Maiden felt herself getting less warmer. She should've worn something thicker for a change.

Somewhere, deep inside the forest of magic, Marisa lowered her binocular. She had been sitting on the branch observing the shrine maiden's fight against the darkness youkai. Alice floated behind the magician, she has been keeping guard of the place with her arsenal of dolls. Each dolls outfitted with their own duel disks. Some could say that her specific two dolls are the pride and joy of hers.

Curiously, the puppeteer turned around. "Anything yet?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, the duel has just ended."

"In just four turns!?" Alice jaw became slack as she resisted to let her mouth hang. "I didn't know the girl was that good. I think she's on par with you, Marisa. What do you think?"

"I don't know ze."

"You don't know?" Alice raised one of her eyebrow. She focused on the magician's back with confusion in her eyes. "Well, that's a first."

Marisa shook her head. She then looked back at Alice, whose face was filled with concern. "You don't understand, Alice. I haven't felt this way in a long way, Alice." Marisa clutched her chest. "This excitement in my chest, this is... this must be..."

"Love?"

Marisa was surprised before turning her current emotion into a sour face.

"No Alice." Marisa pinched the bridge of her nose as the puppeteer grinned innocently. "It's not Alice, just... shut up. Okay? Shut up."

"Whatever you say, my friend."

Marisa grumbled with her arms crossed. She paused for a second before retrieving her broom and rode it. "I'm going to go after her. What do you want to do, Alice?"

"Hm... I'll scout around the lake. Covering you in-case a swarm of fairies decides to counter your attacks, you know? Just covering your bases."

"I see." Marisa smiled. "Catch you later then."

Alice nodded and Marisa jetted away with a loud flash. Sometimes, Alice couldn't help but complain about her friend's lack of delicacy. In the distance, she felt a group of fairies approaching, signaling her time to react. Slowly, she extended her doll's reach to a pre-set perimeter.

 **Turn One: Shrine Maiden of Paradise**

 **END.**

* * *

 **Author Note:**

 **I don't know what came over me when I decided to write this. All I know is that I've been messing around making decks in ygopro and I want to put my dueling knowledge to the test. At first, I wanted Reimu to use a Monarch deck, but after a second of thinking I thought that the deck will be too meta, so I scrapped the idea. Instead, I opted to use Gishki whose ritual summoning fits a Shrine Maiden such as Reimu. She is tecnically adept at ritual summoning.**

 **Anyway, should I made a card lore at the end of each chapter? What it is basically, is to add the card's descriptions and flavor texts. You could also mail me if you wanted to know the deck recipe.  
**

 **Special Thanks to:**

 **Pojo - For helping me with card suggestion**

 **Reddit community - For helping me with an already made deck recipe and describing how it played out**

 **My parents - For giving birth, raising, and funding me with their money**

 **You reader - For reading until the end.**

 **Until next turn!**


End file.
